Dai Pai Dong (Elbow Macaroni)

> Location : Across from G/F 21 Gough Street,
Central, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Tomato soup macaroni
> Tel. # : N/A
> Website : N/A

Once extremely popular in Hong Kong, "dai pai dong's" legacy still lives especially around Central and Sham Shui Po areas. There are still some scattered throughout Hong Kong but not as much as it use to be. You don't know what "dai pai dong" (大牌檔) means? Well, in literal translation, it means "big license stall." Confused? Well to be more clear, dai pai dongs are simply open areas (usually outside and not enclosed by a building), with fold up tables and seats, serving some quick, cost-friendly and tasty dishes! Usually, places like this are never pleasant environment wise because it's situated in cheap/narrow streets. However, if you find the right place, the aroma and the fantastic food will make you forget the environment for good!

The dai pai dong I'm about to talk about is a bit different among others. Most places serve a variety of stuff from breakfast egg/ham and toast to typical Chinese dishes. Yet, the one I'm talking about now is mainly a tomato soup base noodle. Tomato soup? Yes, every order is a large (and I mean it too) bowl of tomato soup (tomatoes still visible) with choice of elbow macaroni (main highlight), instant noodles, or rice noodles. You get to choose two items to go with your bowl such as hot dog, spam, ham sausage, pork chop, slice beef, chicken wings and various others (just ask them!). Additional items will cost more. Each bowl is about $28 HKD.

Realistically, it is really a simple item. But the sweetness of the tomato soup goes really well with the elbow macaroni or instant noodles (I have never tried it with rice noodles but to my knowledge, it wouldn't be better than the previous two). Along with ham sausage and spam (my personal favorite combination), this is the simplest yet greatest bowl of noodles ever! I've tried almost every item (e.g. hot dog, spam, etc), and I can concur they are all fresh, good and just like what you expect it to be. Usually, people's concern for dai pai dongs are its cleanliness in its food. As for the place I'm talking about now, you need not to worry!

Besides tomato soup noodle, they also have some great crispy toast sandwiches. The sandwiches aren't very big (the cost justifies its size) are spread with butter and you can ask for anything inside your sandwich such as pork chop or spam or whatever you desire. You don't want meat? You can definitely just get some crispy toast with butter, sweet condensed milk spread, honey or other yummy toast spread! They are very flexible so just customize it the way you want! Since its Sheung Wan/Central area, if you decide to sit down instead of getting takeout, try to go before 12:30 PM if you want a seat! The place is quite popular and it's actually right across from Kau Kee (the famous clear soup beef brisket noodle restaurant/check out my review!). There's a decent amount of seating area (at least 25 +).

Consistent. That's one word that applies to this place too. I've had this place multiple times and it's consistent with their ingredients every time. There isn't much left to say but if you're in the area and you want to try something simple yet good, go to this dai pai dong which is right across from Kau Kee!

< 4 out of 5 >

Triple-O's (White Spot)

> Location : Shop 10, 1/F, The Forum Exchange Square,
Central, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Hamburgers / Chicken Burgers
> Tel. # : (852) 3401-4000
> Website : http://www.tripleo.com.hk/

Nat Bailey was on a mission. He wanted to make the finest and freshest food products available to the pubic in Vancouver, Canada. So from 1920's all the way into 1930's, Nat started "White Spot," starting with serving food for in car eating (people love their automobiles during that time), creating Canada's first Drive-In, purchase land to create a dine in spot and even having his own central kitchen / chicken farm for consistency of his products. Besides serving great chicken burgers (that's why the logo of Triple-O's has a chicken on it!), White Spot truly got its mark on history because of its beef hamburgers with its famous "Triple-O Sauce" added on it. Due to White Spot's success in Canada, it has also created a fast food version of it called (not surprisingly), Triple-O's! Having nine locations in Canada from Calgary to Vancouver, Triple-O's success has come to Hong Kong!

With three locations now in Hong Kong (Admiralty, Central, Tsim Sha Tsui), its beginning to grow in popularity! I've been to both the Admiralty and Central locations. The Admiralty one is inside Pacific Place and the Central one is right next to the I.F.C. Mall. Everytime I go, it's always packed! Especially during lunch hours for the Central location, go early if you want a seat! Also, if delivery is needed if you're near any of the locations listed, a $150 HKD minimum is required.

Besides the regular menu with the chicken and beef burgers, Triple-O's also have a breakfast menu. All of their breakfast burgers contain the famous "triple-o sauce" and have eggs in it. The sides available are fries, hashbrowns, extra dill and gravy (for the fries). There's also extra toppings for your burgers if needed such as fresh sauteed mushrooms, cheese, bacon, extra egg, extra patty or extra chicken breast. In the regular menu, there's the original burger combo, mushroom burger combo, BC burger combo, chicken supreme burger combo, veggie burger combo, chicken strips and fries, caesar salad and clam chowder. All combos comes with fries and a 14oz soft drink or 8oz coffee/tea. All the combos are either $51 or $61 HKD or just the burger only for $20 HKD less. So, whats it taste like? I've had three things at Triple-O's before.

First of all, the original burger and all others are not small in size. Using the freshest ingredients and Australia's finest beef/chicken patties! The original burger contains a 100% pure beef patty topped with lettuce, tomato and "triple-o sauce." Certainly, the burger was big and it was good! However, I can't help but being reminded how similar it tasted to McDonald's quarter pounder with cheese. I'm not sure if that's a good thing. For me, it felt weird but for others which don't know what I'm talking about, you'll be fine =D

What else? Well, I had the limited time Chicken Club Burger! To me, this had to be my best experience at Triple-O's. It was so juicy and so tasty and the chicken patty was so tender, I totally fell in love with it! Excellent indeed.

My most recent experience? Well, I had the mushroom cheese chicken burger. It's similar to the mushroom burger but it's chicken instead of beef, has cheese and lettuce/tomato is inserted without asking. I was actually a little bit disappointed with this (this is at the Central location and the previous two from Admiralty). I believe the lettuce and tomato wasn't dried enough from being rinsed/washed in water, it made the triple-o sauce a little watery. The chicken patty was tender for the most part but not as great as when I had the chicken club. Everything else was fine.

French fries wise, it's like a mix between steak fries and fries from McDonald's. It's thicker than McDonald's (but not as flat and wide as steak fries), more potato like taste and barely salted. Condiments are provided if needed. A place that reminds me of In-n-Out (California hamburger chain from the states) so much, I have to say In-n-Out makes better fries taste wise =D Quantity wise, Triple-O's aren't short in giving you a lot fries with your combo so never worry about it if you're very hungry!

In the end, I had mix thoughts with Triple-O's. But I think the negative points are understood due to the busy hours I visited especially the "watery triple-o sauce" when I went to the Central location. Excusable or not, consistency is the key to any restaurant and I had to mark just a little bit from my overall impression. The chicken strips, which I personally never had; my friend who had them told me it was above average (a 3.5 out of 5 according to her). So just a little bit of info for you'll who might be interested. For a person like me, who has a lot of experience with various fast food restaurants, it was hard to resist not comparing Triple-O's to similar things in other places. But if you're one of those life long Hong Kong resident or not an often fast food visitor, you'll find Triple-O's an excellent alternative from KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, etc. It was either 3.5, 4 or 4.5 for me. Personally, only caring for my own opinion (holding grudge to the watery triple-o sauce and McDonald's quarter-pounder with cheese-like taste), I would give it a 3.5. But considering what the general Hong Kong population is like, and me judging the place without comparisons, I would give a score of 4. Plus, if the negative points never crossed my mind, I think a 4.5 would even be possible. Through all the drama, I still think the limited time chicken club burger was a blast to eat =D They definitely need to keep it on the menu! Ultimately, Triple-O's gets a...

< 4 out of 5 >

*photograph courtesy of Triple-O's website

Beer Museum Yebisu

> Location : Yebisu Garden Place, 4-20-1 Ebisu Shibuya-ku,
Tokyo, Japan
> Cuisine : Beer tasting / Museum
> Tel. # : (81) (3) 5473-7255
> Website : www.sapporobeer.jp/english/guide/yebisu/

So wait, Simon enjoys beer too?! Well hey, drinks is an important aspect of food so it needs to be covered too! What I'll be covering is a certain Japanese beer called Sapporo. Well, to be more specific, I'll be discussing one of its museum and a bit about the beer itself...

Dating back in the late 1800's, Sapporo has a long history with making fine tasting Japanese beer. From Hokkaido to Sendai to Chiba, Shizuoka and New Kyushu Brewery to two beer museums (one we will be talking about), Sapporo is obviously no stranger to its Japanese competitors (Asahi, Kirin, Suntory, etc).

Besides using its own name on bottles and cans worldwide, Sapporo also has a brand by the name of Yebisu. So what makes this particular Sapporo brand so popular? Well, let me quote directly from Sapporo:

Yebisu Premium - "The secret of YEBISU beer's distinctive taste lies in our use of 100% barley malt, an extended aging period, and attention to detail in all stages of the brewing process. Specially selected aroma hops from Bavaria help to produce a taste that has ensured YEBISU has remained Japan's most popular Premium Beer for over a century."

Yebisu Black - "Slowly roasted black malt and specially selected Bavarian aroma hops combine to create the delightfully fragrant aroma and smooth taste of YEBISU Black - a 100% malt premium black beer for the true beer connoisseur."

Note, Bavaria is the largest province in Germany. So yeah, after a tiny bit of history and some background facts, lets get back to the main highlight. At the Yebisu Garden Place at Ebisu, Toyko, Japan, Sapporo has a beer museum dedicated to Yebisu beer. For a beer lover, it's only stupid to not go for a visit! The entrance is free! When you step inside, there's a souvenir shop to the side. As you walk downstairs away from it, there's a performance area (for special events I believe). The semi-circular museum itself is split into various parts. The following are the different sections: Yebisu Memorial Room - dedicated to the rich history of Sapporo/Yebisu beer, Gallery - displaying the different advertisements Sapporo has brought out throughout the years, World Beer History - talking about the general history and how beer has evolved, The Science of Brewing - explaining with colorful visuals the process to brewing Yebisu beer, Tasting Room - you guessed it, a place to relax and test Yebisu and other types of beer! Besides all these, you'll find little surprises here and there. It's truly a very fun and informative museum for just about anybody.

The tasting room, consist of venting machines for you to purchase tokens to get your beer at the bar. You can purchase any type of beer individually to the 400 Yen, beer sampler. Well, not to any body's surprise, I went with the sampler! The sampler is really a combination of the four different brews. Regular, Black, Brown and White. Regular is served with Yebisu Premium. The description from me is no more or no less than the quote I have above including Yebisu Black also! For White brew, yeast containing Major Weiss (white) is a Bavaria province favorite for "hundreds of years. Weiss is a top-fermented beer produced using 100% wheat malt. It has a characteristic mild taste, with little bitterness." As for brown or ale, Major Ale (mild type) is served. Popular in Britain (e.g. New Castle Beer), "produced by a special brewing process which uses 100% malt, this top-fermented beer has a characteristic fruity aroma and unusually deep color." All straight from the tap, all these draft beers are excellent from start to finish. All beer are served with snacks. Additional snacks can be purchased at the bar.

Seriously, I've tried all sorts of Japanese beer from smaller breweries to major ones and Yebisu brand is definitely one of my favorite. The beer and the museum is all worth a visit for fellow beer lovers and anybody within the Ebisu, Tokyo area! In the end, free entrance fee, fun/informative museum and the great tasting YEBISU beer allows me to give this experience a...

< 5 out of 5 >